Judge rejects plea agreement in deadly Weld County crash

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After an emotional hearing on Friday, a Weld County judge refused to accept a plea agreement for a Wyoming man accused of causing a crash that killed three people and severely injured another — saying a no-jail sentence would not be sufficient.

Anthony Alacca, 22, of Cheyenne, was driving north on U.S. 85 from Greeley last August when police say he lost control of the sedan he was driving — possibly after falling asleep ­— and rolled the vehicle in Weld County just south of the state line.

Siblings Michael De La Rosa and Mariah Lynn De La Rosa and senior U.S. Airman Michael Gnoato were killed in the crash, and Alacca’s girlfriend, Mariah Motschman, remains in a Denver hospital.

Alacca was charged with three counts of careless driving resulting in death and one count of careless driving resulting in injury, all misdemeanors.

He pleaded guilty in January to one count of careless driving resulting in death and agreed to serve three years of unsupervised probation on top of community service and fines.

At Friday’s sentencing hearing, family members and friends of the De La Rosas ­— described as “two peas in a pod” ­— told Weld County Court Judge Michele Meyer they did not believe one misdemeanor charge against Alacca was a fair outcome of the case, and they wanted a harsher punishment.

“He should not be getting what he’s getting,” said Chantel Shaddy, mother of Mariah and Michael. “My kids should be here today doing the things they planned to do, getting married, going to college.”

Three young brothers of the De La Rosas stood before Meyer, and the oldest boy spoke tearfully on his siblings’ behalf.

“In school, I can’t focus because that’s all I can think about is not having my sister and my brother with me,” the boy said. “My sister and my brother were my best friends. They were my everything.”

Motschman’s mother said she hopes that all families involved find peace.

“I’m not a vengeful person, and I know this was an accident,” she said. “I know that it can happen to anybody at any time, and my heart breaks for everybody.”

Family members of Gnoato, a senior airman at Wyoming’s F.E. Warren Air Force Base, were unable to attend. The base released a statement just after the crash.

Alacca sat quietly during the hearing, holding his head in his hand for most of the proceeding. He didn’t address Meyer, but his attorney, David Beller, said Alacca quit school and moved home after the crash to handle the grief of being responsible.

“Mr. Alacca is a great young man,” Beller said. “He’s a young man that is traumatized over having been the person behind the wheel during a crash that killed his friends.”

Meyer expressed her condolences to both families before denying the plea agreement and stipulated sentence.

She said three years of unsupervised probation would not be a fitting sentence in a case where three people lost their lives and a fourth was severely injured.

Alacca’s guilty plea was automatically withdrawn, and a pretrial conference was set for April.